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Gerry Spence
Born
(1929-01-08) January 8, 1929 (age 95)
Laramie, Wyoming
Education
University of Wyoming (BSL, LLB)[1]
Occupation(s)
Lawyer, author
Gerald Leonard Spence (born January 8, 1929) is a semi-retired American trial lawyer and author. He is a member of the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame, and is the founder of the Trial Lawyers College.[2] Spence has never lost a criminal case before a jury either as a prosecutor or a defense attorney, and did not lose a civil case between 1969 and 2010.[3][4] He is considered one of the greatest lawyers of the 20th century,[5][6] and one of the best trial lawyers ever.[7][8][9][10][2] He was described by Richard Falk as a "lawyer par excellence".[11]
Spence is recognized for virtually winning every case he has dealt with,[8] and for winning a number of well-known cases, such as Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge, the Ed Cantrell murder case, the Karen Silkwood case, and the defense of Geoffrey Fieger.[12] He also defended Brandon Mayfield,[13] and carried out the successful prosecution of Mark Hopkinson.[14] One of his most significant cases was the defense of Imelda Marcos, former First Lady of the Philippines, in a racketeering/fraud case considered one of the trials of the century,[15][16] which he won.[17][13]
He has also won large million-dollar lawsuits against companies, such as $26.5 million in libel damages for 1978 Miss Wyoming Kim Pring against Penthouse in 1981.[18] He also won a $52 million lawsuit against McDonald's in 1984.[19] According to Spence, he has won more multi-million dollar verdicts without an intervening loss than any lawyer in America.[20]
He acted as a legal consultant for NBC in its coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial and appeared on Larry King Live.[21] He is the author of over a dozen books about politics and law, including The New York Times bestseller How to Argue and Win Every Time (1995), Win Your Case (2005),From Freedom to Slavery (1993), and Police State: How America's Cops Get Away with Murder (2015).[22]
^Hubbell, Martindale (April 2000). Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory: Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Puerto Rico & U.S. Territories (Volume 18 - 2000). Martindale-Hubbell. ISBN 978-1-56160-376-3.
^ ab"Gerry Spence". Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
^[1] Archived December 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
^Carter, Terry (2008-06-02). "Spence's No-Loss Record Stands with Fieger Acquittal". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
^Solovy, Jerold S.; Byman, Robert L. (1999). "The Timeless Litigator". Litigation. 26 (1): 12–18. ISSN 0097-9813. JSTOR 29760099.
^Uelmen, Gerald (2000-01-01). "Who Is the Lawyer of the Century". Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review. 33 (2): 613. ISSN 0147-9857.
^ abCite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Solovy, Jerold S.; Byman, Robert L. (1999). "The Timeless Litigator". Litigation. 26 (1): 12–18. ISSN 0097-9813. JSTOR 29760099.
^Bennett, Mark W. (2014). "Eight Traits of Great Trial Lawyers: A Federal Judge's View on How to Shed the Moniker 'I Am a Litigator'". SSRN 2491035.
^Falk, Richard (2015-12-11). "Gerry Spence on America Menaced by Impending Police State". Global Justice in the 21st Century. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
^"The Legacy of Gerry Spence". www.spencelawyers.com. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
^ abLevenson, Laurie L. (2015-09-14). "Gerry Spence and His Fight Against Power". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
^McCullen, Kevin (1992-06-11). "A 'REAL PEOPLE' LAWYER'S HARDEST CASE". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
^Bareng, Eriza Ong (2018). Steeling the Butterfly: The Imperial Constructions of Imelda Marcos 1966-1990(PDF) (PhD thesis). University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
^Live Awake PH (2021-11-10), Gerry Spence, Imelda Marcos' Defense Lawyer in the Trial of the Century, retrieved 2023-11-16
^Tisdall, Simon (2015-07-03). "From the archive, 3 July 1990: Tears and cheers as Imelda cleared". The Guardian.com. Retrieved 2023-11-16.
^Polk, Anthony (1981-02-21). "$26.5 Million Libel Award". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
^Ap (1984-01-22). "AROUND THE NATION; Ice Cream Maker Wins Suit on Oral Contract". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
related to GerrySpence. GerrySpence's official website GerrySpence's Blog SpenceLawyers.com Trial Lawyers College GerrySpence Quotes "Spence: $2M settlement...
for the death of Degan. In the successful defense, Weaver's attorney GerrySpence accused the agencies that were involved of criminal wrongdoing, in particular...
gave rise to a 1979 lawsuit, Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee, led by attorney GerrySpence. The jury rendered its verdict of $10 million in damages to be paid to...
charges. Attorney GerrySpence handled Weaver's defense, and successfully argued that Weaver's actions were justifiable as self-defense. Spence did not call...
Force" to investigate allegations made by Weaver's defense attorney GerrySpence. On June 10, 1994, the Task Force delivered its 542-page report to the...
Martens Lyman Ward as Ross Jones Bob Gunton as Bo Gritz Joe Don Baker as GerrySpence Suprynowicz, Vin (1999). "The Courtesan Press, Eager Lapdogs to Tyranny...
Miniseries — "Gunfighters/Townspeople" 1996 The Siege of Ruby Ridge GerrySpence TV Movie 1997 To Dance with Olivia Horace Henely TV Movie 1997 George...
thesis). University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Live Awake PH (2021-11-10), GerrySpence, Imelda Marcos' Defense Lawyer in the Trial of the Century, retrieved...
of lawyers would result in reduced enforcement of individual rights. GerrySpence, With Justice For None: Destroying An American Myth (New York: Times...
presidential campaign. Fieger was defended by famed defense attorney GerrySpence, who announced this would be his last case. A jury acquitted Fieger of...
and lasted ten months, the longest to that time in Oklahoma history. GerrySpence was the chief attorney for the estate, other major attorneys were Daniel...
Glory II: Trial by Fire, a 1990 video game Trial by Fire (Spence book), a 1986 book by GerrySpence Trial by Fire, a 1992 novel by Harold Coyle Trial by Fire...
get out of town, but not the state. Cantrell engaged GerrySpence to defend him. At first Spence refused to take the case, but changed his mind after...
Trial Lawyers College in Dubois, Wyoming. The college was founded by GerrySpence, and the courses provided are Continuing Legal Education (CLE) accredited...
The Marcos couple's defense team was led by criminal defense attorney GerrySpence. Actor George Hamilton, an unindicted co-conspirator, testified at trial...
opponent, representing Oswald, was the well-known criminal defense attorney GerrySpence. London Weekend Television sponsored the mock trial, which followed Texas...
Publish Date: August 1988. Page 392. Indecent Exposure, David McClintick "GerrySpence On Why He Agreed to Defend Randy Weaver". www.famous-trials.com. Retrieved...
in 1959 when he launched a protest against Gerry Fitt at Belfast City Hall after Fitt had described Spence's regiment as "murderers" over allegations that...
Greg Kafoury, trial lawyer and political activist in Portland, Oregon GerrySpence, trial lawyer and founder of Trial Lawyer’s College Yvon Chouinard, rock...
Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gerry Branch Spence, W. Jerome D.; Spence, David L. (1900). A History of Hickman County, Tennessee...
higher amounts in her gastrointestinal organs. In 2014, her Lawyer, GerrySpence gave a two part interview, on the implications of her case in relation...
artist Paulette Frankl and with a foreword by criminal defense attorney GerrySpence, was released in October 2010. Huey Newton Black Panthers White Panthers...
acting as jurors, and Oswald was defended by prominent trial lawyer GerrySpence. Bugliosi obtained a verdict of "guilty." He wrote in the Introduction...
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